Weekly News Roundup: Apr 27 - May 3, 2026
Published on 5/3/2026
A loud start to May. Westpac launched a chunky 200,000-point promo on its Altitude Rewards Black card, NAB quietly switched off one of its more useful transfer partners, and the Velocity buy-points sale closed out the week. Here's what mattered for points-watchers between Apr 27 and May 3.
Westpac Altitude Rewards Black: 200,000 Points + $200 First-Year Fee (May 1)
Westpac kicked off the month with the biggest new card offer of the week. The Westpac Altitude Rewards Black is running a stacked two-year bonus:
- 100,000 Altitude Points for spending $12,000 in the first 12 months
- A further 100,000 Altitude Points for $12,000 in year two
- First-year card fee discounted to $200 (normally $295), or $149 for existing Westpac customers
The points are Westpac Altitude — flexible to either Velocity (1:0.5) or Qantas via the partner network, or redeem for gift cards directly. Not a frequent-flyer card on its face, but Altitude Points are a real currency in their own right.
Eligibility caveat: you can't have held a Westpac Altitude (Classic, Platinum, Black) or Earth card in the last 24 months, and product switches don't count. So this lands squarely with new-to-Westpac customers and lapsed cardholders.
Two-year offers are unusual in the Australian market — most banks just front-load the bonus. Westpac's bet here is clearly on retention through year two, betting you'll renew once you've put $12k through it in year one. Maths-wise, $200 for 100,000 Altitude Points in year one is excellent value if you'd hit the spend anyway.
Sources: Westpac Altitude Rewards Black — Westpac | Westpac Altitude Rewards Black Guide — Point Hacks
NAB Rewards Kills Cathay Asia Miles Transfers (Effective April 27)
A quiet but real devaluation: from April 27, 2026, NAB Rewards points can no longer be redeemed for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. If you've been hoarding NAB Rewards points specifically to convert to Asia Miles for Oneworld redemptions, the option is gone.
Where this hurts: Asia Miles was one of the more flexible Oneworld currencies — sweet spots like Qantas/Cathay business class to Asia for fewer points than equivalent QFF redemptions, plus reasonable surcharges. NAB cardholders now lose direct access to that pipeline.
Where it doesn't hurt much: Asia Miles devalued its own award chart hard in late 2024, so most of the historic sweet spots have already eroded. NAB Rewards still transfers to Velocity, Singapore KrisFlyer, and a handful of others, so the practical impact is smaller than it would have been a few years ago.
If you're on a NAB Rewards Platinum Card or similar, this is one more reason to actually move your balance somewhere useful instead of leaving it sitting in NAB Rewards.
Source: NAB Rewards T&Cs Updates — NAB
Velocity Points Sale: Final Days (Closed April 29)
The buy-points promo from the week prior wrapped up on April 29. The final stretch (Apr 24-29) ran a tiered structure — 30% off on 50,000-100,000 points, 35% on 110,000-190,000 points, and the full 40% off on 200,000-250,000 points.
For anyone who topped up: if you were close to a redemption target on Singapore Airlines or ANA business, 40% off is the cheapest the buy-points window has been all year. Anyone who missed it: these promos run a few times a year — set a calendar reminder for late October, the next typical window.
Source: Buy Velocity Points Booster — Point Hacks
Qantas Double Status Credits Returns (Booking Window May 5-11)
Qantas teased a Double Status Credits or Double Points promo at the back end of the week — booking window opens May 5 for travel on domestic and Trans-Tasman flights between May 12 and August 31, 2026.
Registration is required (via the Qantas app or qantas.com), and you pick either double Points or double Status Credits — not both. Pick Status Credits if you're chasing or maintaining Silver/Gold this year; pick Points if your status is already where you want it.
This one technically falls into next week's news, but if you've got domestic flights to book, hold off until May 5 and run the bookings through the promo.
Source: Qantas Double Status Credits May 2026 — Point Hacks
Notable Offers Still Running
- The American Express Platinum Card: 150,000 Membership Rewards Points (spend $5,000 in 3 months). The strongest premium card in market.
- Qantas Premier Titanium: 150,000 bonus Qantas Points (spend $5,000 in 90 days). $1,200 annual fee, two Qantas First Lounge invitations a year.
- ANZ Frequent Flyer Black: 130,000 bonus Qantas Points (90,000 after $5,000 spend in 3 months, 40,000 after first year) plus $200 back.
- American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card: 170,000 bonus Qantas Points on $6,000 spend in 3 months. Apply by June 16.
- Coles Rewards Mastercard: $250 Coles Gift Card bonus on $3,000 spend in 90 days. Apply by June 30.
What I'm Watching
The Westpac Altitude Rewards Black offer is the most interesting card launch of the month so far — not because the bonus is bigger than the Qantas/Velocity flagships, but because Westpac is one of the few issuers actively trying to grow its proprietary points program rather than lean on frequent flyer brands. If interchange reform hits Qantas and Velocity earn rates from October 1, bank-currency cards like Altitude Rewards get more attractive on a relative basis.
Other thing on the radar: NAB has now removed BPAY earn (April 18) and Asia Miles redemption (April 27) inside the space of two weeks. That's a deliberate shape change — NAB Rewards is being pared back, fast. If you're on a NAB rewards card, this is the moment to ask whether it's still pulling its weight in your wallet.
May is going to be busy.
